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In 1997, the Claro Group from Chile decided to expand its wine business into Argentina to continue the group’s tradition of producing world-class wines. The conditions in Argentina’s Mendoza region contained the ideal and unique terroir which allow winemakers to fulfil their dreams of creating sophisticated and immaculately structured wines. The Claro Group’s first investme... Read more

In 1997, the Claro Group from Chile decided to expand its wine business into Argentina to continue the group’s tradition of producing world-class wines. The conditions in Argentina’s Mendoza region contained the ideal and unique terroir which allow winemakers to fulfil their dreams of creating sophisticated and immaculately structured wines. The Claro Group’s first investment in the Argentine was to acquire the Ugarteche Estate. The estate encompassed approximately 140 hectares (346 acres) of old Malbec and Chardonnay vines, a requisite for producing a deep and balanced wine in the short term. The following year, the expansion continued and Tupungato Estate was obtained. The newly bought estate aided in giving the winemakers of Doña Paula a multi-faceted platform to work off. The underlying conditions showed a remarkable potential for delivering fresh, aromatic wines with high acidity, which were perfectly suited for short-cycle varieties. It took two years for the planting process to be completed, while concurrently the construction of a state-of-art winery commenced. In 1999, Doña Paula had its maiden harvest. It produced phenomenal and hugely promising results. However, due to the occasionally capricious nature of agriculture, disaster struck in the form of hail storms in 2000 and 2001, which inhibited wine production for those two years. Thus, the commercial release of Doña Paula wines onto the export market had to be delayed until the following year. After the unfortunate incidents in 2000 and 2001, Doña Paula has invested heavily in hail-proof nets Since Doña Paula’s launch onto the international market in 2002, with its early exports going to: the United Kingdom; the United States of America and Continental Europe, the company has seen a constant and stratospheric rise in the annual sales of its wines. The successive growth records posted by Doña Paula in 2003 and 2004 caught major international and local attention, showing the firm to be a serious, emerging player in the Argentinean wine industry. Doña Paula soon developed a trademark style that consisted of a powerful complexity which was characterised by a unique fresh fruit concentration. Connoisseurs, importers and the press throughout Europe and the Americas were astounded by the distinctive savour of this wine, which ultimately led to Doña Paula receiving its first prestigious international accolade of “Value Brand of the Year” by Wine and Spirits magazine in 2004. Struggling to keep up with the demand that was placed upon Doña Paula, due to its success among customers, 2005 and 2006 saw a titanic influx of investment into the winery. The capacity of the winery was increased by another million litres in the form of stainless steel vats and a new winery was constructed on the main estate. This resulted in Doña Paula having a vat capacity of over 7 million litres. Throughout 2006 and 2007, Doña Paula acquired and fully planted two high altitude estates: Altamira (80ha.- 198 ac. Planting finish in 2006) and Gualtallary (120 ha.- 297 ac. Planting finished in 2007).The acquisition of these estates insured that Doña Paula wines consisted purely of estate-grown grapes and the end of 2006 saw Doña Paula ranked 12th out of more than 300 Argentinean wine exporters. Due to previous successes, the following years have allowed for Doña Paula to experiment with its wines and expand by diversifying the countries to which it exports. Korea, Honduras, El Salvador and Paraguay have been added to the list of nations to which Doña Paula is exported (currently, there are over 54 countries offering Doña Paula wines in restaurants and on the their shelves), and a new range was created in order to satisfy clients who wanted a unique, charming and extraordinary wine. An uncommon series of unique blends and rare varieties has culminated in the dawn of the Doña Paula premium range which incorporates: Alluvia; Salix Vineyard; Read less